Criticism of Hinduism

Last updated

Criticism of Hinduism has been applied to both historical and current aspects of Hinduism, notably Sati and the caste system.

Contents

Historical background

Early opposition

Some of the earliest criticism of Brahminical texts, including the Vedas and especially the Dharmashastras, comes from the Sramana (or renunciate) traditions, including Buddhism and Jainism. Sramana scholars viewed Brahminical philosophy as "heretical." In particular Sramanas denied the sruti (divine) nature of the Vedas and opposed sacrificial rituals which were at the heart of Brahminical philosophy at the time. [1]

Sati

An 18th-century painting depicting sati Sati ceremony.jpg
An 18th-century painting depicting sati

Sati was a historical Hindu practice, in which a widow sacrifices herself by sitting atop her deceased husband's funeral pyre. [2] [3] [4] [5] Vidya Dehejia states that sati was introduced late into Indian society, and became regular only after 500 CE. [6] The practice became prevalent from 7th century onwards and declined to its elimination in 17th century to gain resurgence in Bengal in 18th century. [7] Roshen Dalal postulated that its mention in some of the Puranas indicates that it slowly grew in prevalence from 5th-7th century and later became an accepted custom around 1000 CE among those of higher classes, especially the Rajputs. [8] [9]

According to Dehejia, sati originated within the Kshatriyas (warrior) aristocracy and remained mostly limited to the warrior class among Hindus. [10] Yang adds that the practice was also emulated by those seeking to achieve high status of the royalty and the warriors. [9] The increase of sati may also be related to the centuries of Islamic invasion and its expansion in South Asia. [9] [11] It acquired an additional meaning as a means to preserve the honour of women whose men had been slain, [9] especially with the variant of mass sati called jauhar , practiced especially among the Rajputs as a direct response to the onslaught they experienced. [5] [12]

The Mughal Empire (1526–1857) rulers and the Muslim population were ambivalent about the practice, [13] [14] [15] with many Mughal emperors forbidding the practice, [16] and later European travelers record that sati was not much practiced in the Mughal empire. [16] It was notably associated with elite Hindu Rajput clans in western India, marking one of the points of divergence between Hindu Rajputs and the Muslim Mughals. [17]

With the onset of the British Raj, opposition against sati grew. The principal campaigners against Sati were Christian and Hindu reformers such as William Carey and Ram Mohan Roy. [18] [19] In 1829 Lord Bentinck issued Regulation XVII declaring Sati to be illegal and punishable in criminal courts. [20] On 2 February 1830 this law was extended to Madras and Bombay. [21] The ban was challenged by a petition signed by "several thousand... Hindoo inhabitants of Bihar, Bengal, Orissa etc" [22] and the matter went to the Privy Council in London. Along with British supporters, Ram Mohan Roy presented counter-petitions to parliament in support of ending Sati. The Privy Council rejected the petition in 1832, and the ban on Sati was upheld. [23]

Caste system

Human Rights Watch describes the caste system as "discriminatory and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment" [24] of over 165 million people in India. The justification of the discrimination on the basis of caste, which according to HRW is "a defining feature of Hinduism," [25] has repeatedly been noticed and described by the United Nations and HRW, along with criticism of other caste systems worldwide. [25] [24] [26] [27]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raja Ram Mohan Roy</span> Indian religious, social and educational reformer (1772–1833)

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was an Indian reformer who was one of the founders of the Brahmo Sabha in 1828, the precursor of the Brahmo Samaj, a social-religious reform movement in the Indian subcontinent. He was given the title of Raja by Akbar II, the Mughal emperor. His influence was apparent in the fields of politics, public administration, education and religion. He was known for his efforts to abolish the practices of sati and child marriage. Roy is considered to be the "Father of Indian Renaissance" by many historians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sati (practice)</span> Historical Hindu practice of widow immolation

Sati was a historical practice in which a widow sacrifices herself by sitting atop her deceased husband's funeral pyre. Although it is debated whether it received scriptural mention in early Hinduism, it has been linked to related Hindu practices in the Indo-Aryan-speaking regions of India. Greek sources from around 300 BCE make isolated mention of sati, but it probably developed into a real fire sacrifice in the medieval era within the northwestern Rajput clans to which it initially remained limited, to become more widespread during the late medieval era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jauhar</span> Self-immolation of Queens in war

Jauhar, sometimes spelled Jowhar or Juhar, was a Hindu Rajput practice of mass self-immolation by females, both adults and children, in the Indian subcontinent to avoid capture, enslavement and rape by Turko-Persian Islamic invaders when facing certain defeat during a war. Some reports of jauhar mention women committing self-immolation along with their children. This practice was historically observed in the northwest regions of India, with most famous jauhars in recorded history occurring during wars between Hindu Rajput kingdoms in Rajasthan and the opposing Turko-Persian Muslim armies. Jauhar was only performed during war, usually when there was no chance of victory. The practice was accompanied by saka, or a last stand where all the males would die fighting on the battlefield instead of surrendering.

Shudra or Shoodra is the one of the four varnas of the Hindu varna system and social order in ancient India. Some sources translate it into English as a caste, or alternatively as a social class. Theoretically, Shudras constituted a class like employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Singh</span> Surname originating from the Asias

Singh is a title, middle name or surname that means "lion" in various South Asian and Southeast Asian communities. Traditionally used by the Hindu Kshatriya community, it was later mandated in the late 17th century by Guru Gobind Singh for all male Sikhs as well, in part as a rejection of caste-based prejudice and to emulate Rajput naming conventions. As a surname or a middle name, it is now found throughout the world across communities and religious groups, becoming more of a generic, caste neutral, decorative name.

Rajput, also called Thakur, is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Rajput covers various patrilineal clans historically associated with warriorhood: several clans claim Rajput status, although not all claims are universally accepted. According to modern scholars, almost all Rajput clans originated from peasant or pastoral communities.

Hindu texts present diverse views on the position of women, ranging from feminine leadership as the highest goddess, to limiting gender roles. The Devi Sukta hymn of Rigveda, a scripture of Hinduism, declares the feminine energy as the essence of the universe, the one who creates all matter and consciousness, the eternal and infinite, the metaphysical and empirical reality (Brahman), the soul, of everything. The woman is celebrated as the most powerful and the empowering force in some Hindu Upanishads, Sastras and Puranas, particularly the Devi Upanishad, Devi Mahatmya and Devi-Bhagavata Purana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sati (Hindu goddess)</span> First consort of the Hindu god Shiva

Sati, also known as Dakshayani, is the Hindu goddess of marital felicity and longevity, and is worshipped as an aspect of the mother goddess Shakti. Sati was the first wife of Shiva, the other being Parvati, who was Sati's reincarnation after her death.

Muslim Rajputs or Musalman Rajpoots are the descendants of Rajputs in the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent who are followers of Islam. They converted from Hinduism to Islam from the medieval period onwards, creating various dynasties and states while retaining Hindu surnames such as Chauhan. Today, Muslim Rajputs can be found mostly in present-day Northern India and Pakistan. They are further divided into different clans.

Chuhra, also known as Bhanghi and Balmiki, is a Dalit caste in India and Pakistan. Populated regions include the Punjab region of India and Pakistan, as well as Uttar Pradesh in India, among other parts of the Indian subcontinent such as southern India. Their traditional occupation is sweeping, a "polluting" occupation that caused them to be considered untouchables in the caste system.

Qaimkhani is a Muslim community of India who were notable for ruling the Fatehpur-Jhunjhunu region in Rajasthan from the 1300s to the 1700s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caste system in India</span> Social stratification practiced in India

The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic instance of social classification based on castes. It has its origins in ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern India, especially in the aftermath of the collapse of the Mughal Empire and the establishment of the British Raj. It is today the basis of affirmative action programmes in India as enforced through its constitution. The caste system consists of two different concepts, varna and jati, which may be regarded as different levels of analysis of this system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assamese people</span> Socio-ethnolinguistic group in India

The Assamese people are a socio-ethnic linguistic identity that has been described at various times as nationalistic or micro-nationalistic. This group is often associated with the Assamese language, the easternmost Indo-Aryan language, and Assamese people mostly live in the Brahmaputra Valley region of Assam, where they are native and constitute around 56% of the Valley's population. The use of the term precedes the name of the language or the people. It has also been used retrospectively to the people of Assam before the term "Assamese" came into use. They are an ethnically diverse group formed after centuries of assimilation of Austroasiatic, Tibeto-Burman, Indo-Aryan and Tai populations, and constitute a tribal-caste continuum—though not all Assamese people are Hindus and ethnic Assamese Muslims numbering around 42 lakh constitute a significant part of this identity The total population of Assamese speakers in Assam is nearly 15.09 million which makes up 48.38% of the population of state according to the Language census of 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vishva Hindu Parishad</span> Hindu nationalist organisation

Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) is an Indian right-wing Hindu organisation based on Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda. Its stated objective is "to organise, consolidate the Hindu society and to serve and protect the Hindu Dharma". It was established to construct and renovate Hindu temples, and deal with matters of cow slaughter and religious conversion. The VHP is a member of the Sangh Parivar group, the family of Hindu nationalist organisations led by the RSS.

Anumarana or Anugamana refers to the ancient Indian practice of self-immolation by which anyone with personal loyalty to the deceased could commit suicide at a loved one's funeral. Anumarana was practiced usually by the widowed wives, when learnt of husband's death at battlefield or elsewhere and he had been already cremated. The widow then resolves to take away her life and immolated herself with husband's ashes or padukas or other such memento. The practice of Anumarana is mentioned in Kamasutra. In Mahabharata, there is a mention of Anumarana being practiced by widows of Kshatriyas on rare occasions. The practice has been described to be prevalent northern India and had existed before the Gupta empire. As per custom, the Brahmin women were only permitted to die by Sahamarana and were not allowed the right of anumarana; however, non-Brahmin women could decide to immolate herself both by sahamarana or anumarana Anumarana was not comparable to later understandings of the practice of sati, as in this widows did not self-immolate in funeral pyre of her husband. When a widow immolated herself with the husband's dead body, it was called Sahamarana or Sahagamana

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengal Sati Regulation, 1829</span> Law which made the burning of widows illegal in India

The Bengal Sati Regulation, or Regulation XVII, A. D. 1829 of the Bengal Code was a legal act promulgated in British India under East India Company rule, by the then Governor-General Lord William Bentinck. The act made the practice of sati or suttee—or the immolation of a Hindu widow on the funeral pyre of her deceased husband—illegal in all jurisdictions of British India and subject to prosecution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hinduism in Karnataka</span>

Hinduism is the most followed Religion in India and nearly 84% of the total population of Karnataka follows Hinduism, as per 2011 Census of India. Several great empires and dynasties have ruled over Karnataka and many of them have contributed richly to the growth of Hinduism, its temple culture and social development. These developments have reinforced the "Householder tradition", which is of disciplined domesticity, though the saints who propagated Hinduism in the state and in the country were themselves ascetics. The Bhakti movement, of Hindu origin, is devoted to the worship of Shiva and Vishnu; it had a telling impact on the sociocultural ethos of Karnataka from the 12th century onwards.

The Jat people are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and subsequently into the Delhi Territory, northeastern Rajputana, and the western Gangetic Plain in the 17th and 18th centuries. Of Hindu, Muslim and Sikh faiths, they are now found mostly in the Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan and the Pakistani provinces of Sindh and Punjab.

Modern historians agree that Rajputs consisted of a mix of various different social groups and different varnas. Rajputisation explains the process by which such diverse communities coalesced into the Rajput community.

Vedic learning started in Mithila with the expansion of Vedic and Brahmanic culture eastwards along the Ganges plain. Some sources consider this centre of Brahminical study to form an Ancient Mithila University. From the 12th/13th to 15th century CE it was an important centre of Nyaya Shastra and logical sciences.

References

  1. ↑ Thapar, Romila (1989). "Imagined Religious Communities? Ancient History and the Modern Search for a Hindu Identity". Modern Asian Studies. 23 (2): 209–231. doi:10.1017/S0026749X00001049. ISSN   0026-749X. JSTOR   312738. S2CID   145293468.
  2. ↑ Feminist Spaces: Gender and Geography in a Global Context, Routledge, Ann M. Oberhauser, Jennifer L. Fluri, Risa Whitson, Sharlene Mollett
  3. ↑ Gilmartin, Sophie (1997). "The Sati, the Bride, and the Widow: Sacrificial Woman in the Nineteenth Century". Victorian Literature and Culture. 25 (1): 141–158. doi:10.1017/S1060150300004678. JSTOR   25058378. S2CID   162954709. Suttee, or sati, is the obsolete Hindu practice in which a widow burns herself upon her husband's funeral pyre...
  4. ↑ Sharma 2001, pp. 19–21.
  5. 1 2 On attested Rajput practice of sati during wars, see, for example Leslie, Julia (1993). "Suttee or Sati: Victim or Victor?". In Arnold, David; Robb, Peter (eds.). Institutions and Ideologies: A SOAS South Asia Reader. Vol. 10. London: Routledge. p. 46. ISBN   978-0700702848.
  6. ↑ Dehejia 1994, p. 50.
  7. ↑ Nandy, Ashis (1980). Sati: A Nineteenth Century Tale of Women, Violence and Protest in the book "At the Edge of Psychology". Oxford University Press. p. 1.
  8. ↑ Dalal, Roshen (2010). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin Books India. p. 363. ISBN   9780143414216.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Yang 2008, p. 21–23.
  10. ↑ Dehejia 1994, p. 51-53.
  11. ↑ Sashi, S.S. (1996). Encyclopaedia Indica: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. Vol. 100. Anmol Publications. p. 115. ISBN   9788170418597.
  12. ↑ Jogan Shankar (1992). Social Problems And Welfare In India. Ashish Publishing House.
  13. ↑ Annemarie Schimmel (2004). Burzine K. Waghmar (ed.). The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture . Reaktion. pp.  113–114. ISBN   978-1-86189-185-3.
  14. ↑ Sharma 2001, p. 23.
  15. ↑ M. Reza Pirbhai (2009). Reconsidering Islam in a South Asian Context. Brill Academic. p. 108. ISBN   978-90-474-3102-2.
  16. 1 2 XVII. "Economic and Social Developments under the Mughals" from Muslim Civilization in India by S. M. Ikram, edited by Ainslie T. Embree New York: Columbia University Press, 1964
  17. ↑ Asher, Catherine B.; Talbot, Cynthia (2006), India before Europe, Cambridge University Press, pp. 268–, ISBN   978-1-139-91561-8
  18. ↑ Sharma 2001, pp. 6–7.
  19. ↑ Marshman, John Clark (1876). History of India from the earliest period to the close of the East India Company's government. Edinburgh: W. Blackwood. p. 374. ISBN   9781108021043.
  20. ↑ Sharma pp. 7–8.
  21. ↑ Rai, Raghunath. History. p. 137. ISBN   9788187139690.[ permanent dead link ]
  22. ↑ Dodwell 1932 p. 141.
  23. ↑ Kulkarni, A.R.; Feldhaus, Anne (1996). "Sati in the Maratha Country". Images of Women in Maharashtrian Literature and Religion. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. p. 192. ISBN   978-0791428382.
  24. 1 2 "Hidden Apartheid". Human Rights Watch. 2007-02-12. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  25. 1 2 "CASTE DISCRIMINATION". www.hrw.org. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  26. ↑ "OHCHR | Caste systems violate human rights and dignity of millions worldwide – New UN expert report". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  27. ↑ "UN report slams India for caste discrimination". CBC News. 2 March 2007.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.